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Smaller fields and fewer fully exempt players are among measures backed by the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council unveiled Tuesday for a vote by the tour’s policy committee next month.
After getting extensive feedback from PGA Tour players, the board made several recommendations for charges in a memo Tuesday that, if approved at a Nov. 18 board meeting, would begin for the 2026 campaign .
The Policy Board approved a major overhaul of field sizes in PGA Tour events in June and the suggestions come after an analysis of player responses.
Regular tournaments played on a course would see the number of players reduced from 156 to 144 and the rest would be reduced from 132 to 120 in order to avoid play being suspended by darkness after 12 of this year’s 43 events were had at least one ride interrupted as the sun set.
The Players Championship would be reduced from 144 to 120 players and the Scottish Open would lose 12 to rely on 144 players, as an example.
Full exemption status would be removed from the top 125 players to the top 100 players on the FedEx Cup points list, with a conditional category for players rated between 101 and 125.
PGA Tour qualifiers on Korn Ferry’s developmental tour would be reduced from 30 to 20, with DP World Tour players retaining 10 PGA Tour card qualifiers and a qualifying school limited to five PGA Tour spots.
Qualifying would be reduced at PGA Tour events with fewer than 144 players during the regular season, but not at fall events.
The FedEx Cup points distribution table would change slightly to allow runners-up to receive more points and players outside the top 10 to receive fewer.
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